STICHTING SURF

Their core work

SURF is the Dutch national cooperative for IT services in higher education and research, providing shared digital infrastructure — cloud computing, high-speed networks, data storage, and identity management — to all Dutch universities and research institutes. In H2020, they contributed their national open access infrastructure expertise as part of the OpenAIRE2020 network, helping build the pan-European research information system that tracks open access publications across the continent. They also supported the e-Infrastructure Reflection Group (e-IRG), the advisory body that shapes EU e-infrastructure policy and the roadmap for the European Open Science Cloud. Their core value lies in bridging national IT operations with European research infrastructure frameworks.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the 2015-2016 period, SURF's H2020 work centered on operational open access infrastructure — building research information systems, monitoring gold open access pilots, and connecting Dutch repositories to the OpenAIRE pan-European network. By 2016-2018, the focus shifted toward policy and governance: supporting the e-IRG advisory body and contributing to early European Open Science Cloud conceptualization. This trajectory follows a natural progression from implementation to governance as the European open science landscape matured, and mirrors how established infrastructure providers move from building systems to shaping the policies around them.

SURF is moving from national open access implementation toward EU-level e-infrastructure governance and EOSC policy shaping — a pattern consistent with organizations that want influence over the standards they implement.

How they like to work

SURF participates exclusively as a consortium partner rather than leading projects — in both H2020 projects they joined as participants. Despite only two projects, they engaged with 60 unique partners across 34 countries, which reflects participation in large pan-European consortia typical of open access and e-infrastructure initiatives. This suggests they are valued contributors who bring credible national infrastructure capacity to broader European efforts, rather than project initiators seeking to set the agenda.

Despite only 2 H2020 projects, SURF engaged with 60 unique partners across 34 countries, reflecting their role in large pan-European open science and e-infrastructure consortia. Their network spans most EU member states and associated countries, consistent with the OpenAIRE network's broad European coverage.

What sets them apart

SURF is the national ICT cooperative for all Dutch universities and research institutions, giving them operational reach into one of Europe's strongest and best-funded research ecosystems. Unlike academic partners in open access consortia, SURF runs the actual infrastructure — they are not studying open access, they are implementing it at national scale. For consortium builders needing a credible national node with both technical capacity and policy connections to the European Commission's e-infrastructure advisory bodies, SURF is one of a small number of NRENs that can deliver both.

Highlights from their portfolio

• OpenAIRE2020
  The largest of SURF's two projects (EUR 185,000) and the flagship EU initiative for open access infrastructure, placing SURF within a consortium that shaped how European research publications are tracked and accessed continent-wide.
• e-IRGSP5
  A policy support programme for the body that directly advises the European Commission on e-infrastructure strategy, giving SURF visibility at the highest EU policy level during the formative years of EOSC planning.